


When Shut-Up Hearts Are Opened Freely

by fathomlessspite



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-20
Updated: 2009-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-12 12:51:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/125013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fathomlessspite/pseuds/fathomlessspite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Secret Santa time in Atlantis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Shut-Up Hearts Are Opened Freely

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by the wonderful kimberlyfdr. Response to a promt from scarlet_gryphon. Title from a Charles Dickens quote.

He can’t remember how they got him to agree. Maybe they plied him with food? Or approached him when they knew he wouldn’t be listening? Rodney thinks that it’s likely they actually didn’t get his agreement, but are relying on the fact that he wouldn’t remember if they had.

Either way he’s not too worried since, with the amount of people stationed on Atlantis now compared to the handful he knows well, he’s likely to get someone he doesn’t really know. This means easy, generic gift buying.

When he opened the email with the name of his assigned giftee he stared at it for a moment in confusion. Then proceeded to glance round the labs as if it must be a practical joke. No such luck.

After frowning back at the screen for a few more minutes, he snapped his laptop shut and headed for the control room.

“What is this?” he demanded once he has entered Carter’s office.

“Hello Rodney,” Sam said eyes still on the screen of her laptop. She typed for a few shorts moments before glancing up at Rodney. “Can I help you?”

“What,” he began, opening his laptop and setting it in front of her, “is. This?” he asked, pointing at the email.

“It’s your Secret Santa name,” she replied with a smile.

“I realize that!” Rodney huffed. “Why is it him?”

“Rodney-”

“He’s not even working on Atlantis anymore!”

“We decided to include any former Atlantis personnel currently stationed on the Daedalus.”

“He- What? He’s on-”

“Temporary assignment, until we can find something more permanent for him,” Sam explained.

“By we-?” Rodney began, alarmed.

“I mean the SGC,” she smiled.

“Good, but still,” he started to argue again.

“Rodney, you can’t trade, the pick was completely random.” She began to grin. “Any ideas?” she asked. Rodney just glared at her and gathered his laptop to leave. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” she added..

Rodney snorted and headed out of the door, scowling.

“I’m sure Doctor Kavanaugh will appreciate whatever you get him!” she called after him. 

* * *

It’s not like Rodney particularly cared about Kavanaugh, so the gift wouldn’t need any extravagant planning.

However, as the weeks passed and Christmas Day loomed, Rodney began to worry a little. It seemed most of his staff had put at least some time and thought into their gifts; even for those they didn’t know particularly well.

One evening, when it was only he and Radek left in the lab, he decided to do a little research so he could make a slightly more informed decision.

“What do you know about Kavanaugh?” he asked. The rapid tapping sound of keys ceased as Radek paused to respond.

“You are not thinking of inviting him back to the city?” Zelenka asked uncertainly.

“God, no!” he exclaimed.

“Then why-?” he began before his lips twisted into a smile. “You’re his Secret Santa aren’t you?” he asked and laughed. “That is priceless, Rodney,” he said, snorting.

“Either shut up or help me,” Rodney snapped.

“I’m afraid I’m not going to be of much use, Rodney. I avoided speaking to the man wherever I could,” he replied, not quite as apologetically as he could have.

“Well, thanks for nothing,” Rodney sighed and turned back to his computer.

“Miko has had lunch with him once or twice. You could ask her?”

“Hmm,” Rodney responded, attention already directed back on the simulation he was running.

* * *

Rodney paused when he saw Miko sitting by herself at breakfast the next morning. Once he’d filled up his tray, he walked past Sheppard and Teyla to join Miko at her table.

“Doctor McKay!” she exclaimed nervously.

“Hi,” he responded with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Despite the fact that her slight awe and amazement of him was obviously completely justified, it freaked him out just a little. It was usually best to ignore it. “Good breakfast?” he asked.

“It is okay.” She shrugged, glancing down at her bowl of cornflakes and glass of orange juice and back up at Rodney inquisitively. They sat in silence for a few more moments.

“Okay, look. I need your help with something,” he said eventually.

“Oh, yes. Anything Doctor McKay,” she said earnestly.

“Right, thank you. The thing is, I got Kavanaugh for Secret Santa, and I don’t really know the man other than the fact that he’s an irritating little-” he paused. “Anyway, Radek said he’d noticed you eating with him a few times?”

“Yes,” she nodded and smiled. And said nothing else.

“Well, what did you talk about?” Rodney prompted; he restrained himself from rolling his eyes.

“Oh, well we only really discussed work. In fact, I mostly just listened while he, well,” she paused and glanced at him nervously. “While he spoke,” she finished.

“Right,” Rodney sighed and took a bite of his toast. He chewed for a moment. “I don’t suppose you remember what he ate?”

* * *

If asked, Rodney would deny everything. But right now he was in fact hacking into Kavanaugh’s file. He really, really wished he wasn’t, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Unfortunately, the SGC don’t keep records that are particularly illuminating when choosing a Christmas gift for someone.

Under interests Kavanaugh has listed computer programming.

Rodney closed the file with a sigh. 

* * *

In the end Rodney sent a communiqué to Bill Lee at the SGC:

**To** **: rlee@cheyenne.gov.com  
From: rmckay@cheyenne.gov.atl  
Subject: Help me or suffer the consequences**

 **Bill,**

 **What did Kavanaugh complain about missing the most from home when you were stuck on Midway with him?**

 **McKay**

The response comes in the next dial up promptly and is good enough for Rodney.

**To** **: rmckay@cheyenne.gov.atl  
From: rlee@cheyenne.gov.com  
Subject: Re: Help me or suffer the consequences**

 **Rodney,**

 **His mother. And ice-cream.**

 **Good luck,  
Bill**

Rodney put in an order for a voucher for a year’s supply of Ben& Jerry’s ice-cream. Once he received it he handed it over to the unlucky grunt tasked with collecting and distributing the several hundred gifts. And promptly forgot all about it. 

* * *

Christmas crept up on Rodney. He only noticed it had arrived when Sheppard slouched into his lab, grumbling at him.

“Merry Christmas, McKay. You missed the gift giving extravaganza,” he said, swatting Rodney over the head with an envelope.

“The what?” Rodney said, dragging his gaze away from his screen.

“Secret Santa?” John prompted.

“Right, so is that it? Were you mine?” Rodney asked, pointing at the small box and envelope John was carrying.

“Yes and no. I’m just delivering it, since you couldn’t be bothered to come this morning and pick it up yourself.”

John held the box up to his ear and shook it before handing it over to Rodney. Rodney set it down on his desk along with the envelope and turned back to the screen.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” John asked.

Rodney rolled his eyes and snatched the envelope up. “Fine,” he said, ripping into it. He pulled out a piece of folded card.

“What is it?”

“Directions,” Rodney said, frowning.

“To what?” John asked, stepping closer and looking over Rodney’s shoulder at the gift.

“It doesn’t say,” Rodney said and handed it to him.

“Huh,” John glanced over the instructions and handed them back. “What’s in the box?”

Curious now, Rodney pulled off the ribbon and opened the box. “A crystal,” he said, holding it up to the light. “It’s not like any of the Ancient’s crystals I’ve seen before, in terms of its shape anyway.”

“The outlet must be wherever your directions are to,” John shrugged.

“Hmm,” Rodney put the crystal back in the box and slipped it into his pocket. He picked up the directions, “Up for a bit of exploring Colonel?”

“Sure, why not?”

They started walking toward the door.

“Wait, what about the Christmas dinner in the mess?” He stopped and looked at John. “We don’t want to miss that-”

“Get moving, McKay.”

* * *

The directions took them to the very edge of the city. Rodney had to shade his eyes from the light which streamed through the windows of the hallway they had stopped in, outside of the room marked as their destination. The doors were large and elaborately decorated.

“Open it then.” Rodney motioned to Sheppard, who swiped his hand over the door control. The room was larger than any Rodney had seen in the city yet, barring the gateroom or jumper bay.

“A theatre?” John wondered aloud as he trotted down the steps and further into the large room. It was set up like a theatre; seats on graduated steps down to the far side of the room where there was a small stage.

The domed crystal roof meant the room was filled with natural sunlight.

“Rodney!” Sheppard called, having now reached the stage. Rodney jogged down the steps to meet him; standing by a crystal object which took center stage. “It kinda looks like an Ancient version of a piano.”

“Yeah,” Rodney agreed, running his hand along the glass top and down to the side where a control similar to the door mechanism was situated. He ran his hand over it and the flat lid opened to reveal what looked like a set of keys. Rodney pressed one and a sound unlike any earth piano could make echoed through the room.

“Pretty,” John commented.

“I used to play piano when I was younger,” Rodney told him as he sat down at the bench and tried a few other keys in quick succession. The notes appeared to be arranged in a similar pattern to earth standard keyboards.

What would be the ivory keys were a deep blue and the ebony a light, almost clear crystalline blue. Rodney positioned his hands, grinning as he rapped out a quick burst of chopsticks.

Sheppard wandered off around the back of the stage as Rodney continued to play with the Ancient piano. “There’s all kinds of stuff back there,” Sheppard said when he came back. Rodney pulled himself away to do a cursory inspection. There was an array of what looked like different instruments, some familiar looking some completely foreign looking.

“Did you try the crystal?” Sheppard asked him when they wandered back around to the front of the stage.

“Oh!” Rodney reached into his pocket to retrieve it and walked back to the piano to inspect it. On the top was a small slot just the size of the crystal. He slotted it in and the flat surface of the instrument flickered to life. Ancient scrolled across it.

“What does it say?” Sheppard asked, craning his neck to look at the screen.

“Give me a minute,” Rodney replied, frowning at the screen. “I think,” he said after a few minutes, “huh.” He tapped the last option on the screen and hit ‘middle C’ on the keyboard. The sound it produced was the familiar tone of an Earth piano. Rodney grinned and selected something else.

“Electric guitar,” John commented. “Cool.”

“Yep,” Rodney grinned, as he flicked through a few more of the options. “Question is though...”

“Who’s your Secret Santa?” John finished. 

* * *

They made it back for dinner. Afterward, Rodney caught up with Sam on her way back to her quarters. “Were you my Secret Santa?”

“What makes you think that?”

“I got directions,” he told her as she raised her eyebrow. “Sheppard and I followed them. It’s a concert hall, an Ancient version of a piano on the stage, and some other instruments back stage,” he explained.

“That’s amazing!”

“It wasn’t you?” he asked, confused.

“No, why? Have you not told anyone else that you used to play?” she asked.

“Not that I remember. Maybe it’s just a coincidence.” He shrugged.

On his way back to the mess hall, Rodney passed Kavanaugh. H gave him a brief nod and wondered idly if he appreciated his ice cream. He registered the ceasing of the footsteps behind him and paused.

“Doctor McKay,” Kavanaugh called.

“Yes?”

“Did you find it?”

“Find it?”

“The room. I wasn’t sure if the directions were clear enough or if the programming on the crystal would function properly...” he trailed off.

“You were my Secret Santa?” Rodney asked.

“Yes,” he replied slowly. The ‘obviously’ went unsaid. “Was it not right?”

“No, no, it was perfect. You went to that much effort over a gift for me?” he asked, completely bewildered.

“Well, when we were stuck in that jumper you mentioned that you used to play and it sounded like you wished you hadn’t given it up. And I did kind of blow up the Midway station and almost kill you so I thought...” he trailed off.

“Right, I’d forgotten.” He paused and looked at Kavanaugh, who looked about as uncomfortable as Rodney felt. “Thank you, it was really... thoughtful.”

“Well, it is Christmas, ‘tis the season’ and all that,” Kavanaugh said with only a small sneer curling his lips. “I’m glad you liked it,” he added with a quick nod and turned to leave, his steps starting quick, likely in an effort to escape as soon as possible.

“Peter!” Rodney called after him. He paused and turned, too quickly to hide his wince. “Merry Christmas,” Rodney said with a half smile.

“Thanks, you too,” Kavanaugh said with an answering smile before turning and walking down the corridor, not quite as quickly as before.

Rodney shook his head. “That was weird,” he muttered before heading back to the mess.

The next day he added a personal note to Kavanaugh’s file.

 _Attitude improving, if his Christmas Spirit is anything to go by._


End file.
